The “Occupy Wall Street” movement is still going strong, not only in New York City but nationwide, so let’s talk about it.
Is the “Occupy” movement sustainable? Is it the left’s answer to the Tea Party?
What do you think?
9 thoughts on “Topic of the Week: #occupywallstreet”
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It’s what the elite overlords fear most – their system of keeping the middle class just pacified enough to be contented buffers from the majority mobs is a bit (or a lot!) off calibration. Some adjustment to the system will be required…if we demand it.
My thought that there are common threads between the Occupy movement and the early Tea Party movement seem to be agreed upon. That said, the two movements have very different ways of expressing themselves, and to date the Occupy movement does not have monied interests using its name. It’s very appropriate that the monied interests haven’t usurped it, as those interests are part of the very 1% the movement is positioned against.
It’s very encouraging to think of this as an outgrowth of the February 2011 protest in Madison. I think a lot of that energy has been absorbed around the world, and is now coming out, evolved to fit the local situations. Many of which happen to be common global situations.
Well said.
The worst fear I speak of is that these two ostensibly disparate “groups” realize this. Vast sums of money will be (are being; have been throughout history) spent to prevent this.
The Occupy and Tea Party movements have generated from the same problem- people recognize that our economy gives absurd advantages to the rich and politically connected, and it’s driving our standard of living down. As JCG and Jason bring up, this recognition is what scares the hell out of the oligarchs.
The difference is that the Occupy movement is based on actual solutions and demands for action to change this reality, instead of the Tea Party’s insistence that more of the same will fix the same problems deregulation and oligarchy have caused. Occupy is also from the ground-level up (no Koch buses here), and isn’t reliant on false radio-led talking points like “take your government hands off of my Medicare!”
Movements based in reality tend to last longer than Astroturf deceptions, so I’d say that while the Occupy movement may evenutally be co-opted and watered down by some (as politicians realize that this is a winning position), it’s in for the long haul.
Once upon a time, the Tea Party was a legitimate movement believe it or not. That changed over night, when the Koch money came in, so there was a case of the Tea Party and the Tea Party Express as soon as Obama was elected.
If you look carefully and do your research, there are two different groups, but unfortunately the Tea Party was taken away from the people the day the talking conservative heads and politicians set their sights on Obama. Really depressing honestly.
I pretty much agree entirely with what was said here.
There was no Tea Party prior to the election of a black president. Legitimate, my ass.
Occupy is class warfare…not liberal vs. conservative, left vs. right…in addition to the 99% signs, Recall Walker, etc, at yesterday’s Occupy Milwaukee event, there were serveral Ron Paul signs in evidence! And my favorite Libertarian photog was there documenting the whole event.
This is not class warfare. This is about a fair America. It is not about stopping the rich from being rich. It is not about making the poor wealthy. IMO this is not about re-distributing wealth. Occupy America is about re-creating the Land of Opportunity for all. When a handful of people can ruin the wealth of the middle class, when a handful of people can manipulate the market, when a handful of corporate board members can influence congressional manipulation of winner and loser companies, that is an America that needs reforming.
Well put, Dale.
Ultimately, I see the “Occupy” movement as being more about economics than politics. This about folks starting to wake up and realize that the middle class has been getting progressively smaller and smaller thanks to policies enacted by lawmakers of both parties that have favored shipping American jobs overseas through “free trade” agreements, among other policies that have benefited corporate bottom lines and executive pay at the expense of just about everyone else.